


green shadows

by whichlights



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Autistic Lloyd Garmadon, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, the ninja get their asses handed to them by a 16 year old
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-01-04 18:30:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12174327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichlights/pseuds/whichlights
Summary: Where Garmadon loved his son too much to leave him behind, and Lloyd ended up raised by Lord Garmadon as his apprentice.





	1. Chapter 1

"First it was the Underworld, then it was that Shadow Realm. Mind telling me why we're in Ninjago now?" Lloyd leaned against the wall of the cave, arms crossed. "Are we finally making a move?"

Garmadon looked up at him from his book. "We've returned to Ninjago, but there is much we do not know. Remember what I told you about the Golden Weapons?"

"Those ninja that got them? You think they'll be an issue?"

"If my brother has trained them well enough, they might." 

Lloyd narrowed his eyes. "I'll scope out the turf. I've never been to Ninjago City."

"You've never been to Ninjago," Garmadon corrected. "Go explore. Get the lay of land."

Lloyd smiled. "I'll be back by sundown. Bye, dad."

\---

Lloyd Garmadon was the son of Lord Garmadon, and he was his father's son. He was sixteen years old. 

He was ready to take over the world.

He had his hoodie pulled up to hide his hair and his face, not because he thought he would be recognized, but because he liked the feel of the hoodie. No one in the city looked at him twice. As he passed through the streets, he heard voices.

"I'm telling you, Cole, we're lost."

"No, we're not! I know where I'm going!"

"We're lost, Cole."

Lloyd paused, curious. Four voices. He looked back- four guys, older than him, color coded in red, blue, white, and black. The red and blue ones were snapping at the black one, Cole, for getting them lost, and the white one was apparently meditating. 

That would have been enough for him, usually, but then he noticed a glint of gold. The Golden Weapons. Lloyd blinked, and started to smile. 

_I can gauge their threat level and still be back by sundown._

_\---_

"I'm telling you, Cole, we're lost," Kai sighed. 

"No, we're not!" Cole insisted. "I know where I'm going!"

"We're lost, Cole." Jay crossed his arms. "What do you think, Zane?"

Zane's eyes snapped open. "I think we're not alone."

A kid walked up to them, grinning to himself. "Hi," he said cheerfully, green eyes glinting. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation."

"Does this mean you can give us directions?" Jay asked hopefully.

"Actually, I just saw your weapons." The kid pulled down his hoodie, showing fluffy blonde hair. "Pretty. The Golden ones, right?"

Kai pulled out his sword. "I don't think he's going to give us directions."

The kid ducked his swing, and whipped around to hit him in the back. Kai stumbled, and turned around in time to see Jay and Cole rush at him, and see the kid duck. He still had a shit eating grin on his face. "I knew this would be fun."

"Try this out for fun!" Zane tossed a shuriken at him, and he dodged. The wall behind him started to be covered in ice. His eyes were wide, but he seemed mostly unbothered.

"What are we doing? We have elemental powers!" Kai blasted the kid with fire, and the kid responded by firing right back at him, beat for beat with fire.

"He's fire?" Kai yelped, dodging a well aimed fireball. "Without the Golden Weapons?"

"Zane, cool him down!" Cole yelped, keeping the kid at a distance from him with his scythe. Zane aimed a blast of ice at him, but the kid just seemed annoyed by that, and stepped on the ground. The earth split, and-

"Earth? Can you be two elements?" Jay said. 

The kid grinned at him. "Let me guess- you're lightning?" The kid snapped his fingers and a spark flew off. 

Jay rushed at him with his nunchucks, and the kid dodged expertly. "Good form, but predictable." Then the kid hit him in the head. Jay stumbled into a wall, and the kid blasted him with lightning.

"Jay!" Kai, Cole, and Zane yelled. 

"He'll be fine, promise." The kid had his fists up. "Come on, this is the most fun I've had in a while."

"Who are you?" Kai asked, carefully keeping his guard up.

The kid tilted his head. "What, you don't recognize me?"

"No. Should we?" Zane asked, taking a cautious step forward. The kid kicked him back onto Jay. 

"Depends. How much has Wu told you?"

"What do you know about Sensei?" Kai demanded.

The kid laughed. "Enough. Hey, come on, attack me!"

Cole and Kai nodded to each other, and charged at him at once. The kid just jumped over them, letting them crash into each other. 

The kid leaned down to Kai's level, still grinning. "That was fun! You're not nearly as much as a threat as I thought you were! Honestly, that was a good attempt, but sloppy. Do you even know how to use your powers?"

"I want a rematch," Kai growled.

The kid rolled his eyes, pulling his hoodie back up. "No thanks. I think I've kicked your ass enough today, don't you think? Really, anything more would just embarrass you."

The kid actually patted him on the head. "Bye!"

"Wait!" Kai called as he jogged away. "Who are you?"

The kid didn't look back to answer. Kai hit his head against the ground and groaned.

\---

"Wu! We need your old guy knowledge!" Jay announced, walking into the Destiny's Bounty. Wu looked up from his tea. "Oh? What happened?"

They all started talking at once.

"There was this kid-"

"He had control over all the elements-"

"We couldn't defeat him-"

"How can someone have more than one element-"

"He wouldn't tell us who he was-"

"Enough!" Wu set down his tea. "How old was he?"

"If I had to guess? Around sixteen?" Cole tried.

"Was he blonde?"

"How did you know that?" Kai whispered.

Wu sighed. "My brother's son. I had hoped he would see the light."

"Woah, woah, woah, back up," Jay spluttered. "Your brother. Lord Garmadon. Has. A. SON?!"

Wu sighed again, sitting down. "Yes. When he was banished all those years ago, his son, Lloyd, accompanied him."

"Why did you never tell us this?"

"I didn't think it was important."

"How is information like your greatest enemy having a  _son_ not important?"

"What troubles me more is that he defeated you. Did you not use your powers?"

"We did! He matched us."

Jay snorted. "Matched? He kicked our asses! With our own elements!"

"Do you remember that scroll Kai found? About the green ninja?"

"Yah?" The team leaned forward.

"It's Lloyd. He has control of all four of your elements, and his own set of powers. And if he's been trained by my brother... I fear he may be your greatest adversary."

Zane gasped. "But the green ninja is supposed to defeat the Dark Lord! He can't be..."

"Evil!"

"A complete brat!"

"Corrupt!"

"It seems that way, yes. But there is always a positive side to things."

"Oh, right, let me just look for a positive. Our greatest enemy has a teenaged son you never told us about that's the prophesied green ninja, who instead of protecting of the world, is bent on conquering it with his evil dad, BECAUSE HE'S EVIL!" Jay yelled.

"Now you are more prepared for your next encounter with him."

"Uh, Sensei, didn't you get the memo?" Kai said. "He handed our tails to us! The only reason he let us go was because he had  _fun_ and he didn't want to 'embarrass' us any more! There's something...  _wrong_ with him."

"His upbringing might have affected his morals, and the way he acts, but he is still my nephew," Wu said firmly. 

The ninja bowed their heads. "Yes, Sensei."

"Now, go train! Aren't you motivated now?"

"To get our asses kicked again? Not really. I'd rather never see the kid again."

\---

"I ran into those ninja today," Lloyd said, his head and half of his upper body hanging off the top bunk. "They're kind of pathetic."

"What? They saw you?" Garmadon looked up at him, moderately concerned.

"They didn't know who I was. Honestly, they don't seem too sure about how to use their Golden Weapons. It shouldn't be a problem taking them."

"And you have no problem with me taking the weapons?" Garmadon tested. It was a game he played with himself, always trying to see if that green ninja prophesy would snap into place and Lloyd would suddenly turn on him. 

Lloyd shrugged as best he could while half of him was hanging off of a bunk bed. "I already have the powers, so what use are the weapons? Besides, I don't want four arms."

Garmadon laughed. Lloyd squinted at him. "What's funny?"

"I thought the way you said you didn't want four arms was funny," Garmadon explained. "Even if you didn't mean it as a joke."

"Oh. Okay." Content with the explanation, Lloyd continued to calmly hang off the bunk bed. "I kinda feel sorry for the ninja. I mean, they did their best. It's not their fault I'm better than them at using my powers."

"Is that why you let them go? You felt sorry for them?"

"Yah. It wouldn't be fair."

Garmadon's son had a funny set of morals. He thought fighting the ninja was fun, but defeating them completely wasn't fair. He was willing to accept the surrender of a village in exchange for all their candy. He also had no idea how to interact with people, and Garmadon had realized while they were in the Underworld that he might have majorly fucked up his son's development by not giving him interaction with people other than him. The skeletons didn't count.

Maybe these ninja could be good for him.

\---

"We heard an alarm?" Kai stumbled into the bridge, half in uniform, half in pajamas. 

"We kinda have an emergency," Nya said. "Serpentine sightings!"

"Serpentine? Those are stories!" Kai huffed. 

"Does it look like  _stories_ are attacking Mega Monster Amusement Park?" Nya demanded. "Just go!"

"You're- you're going to give us back up, right?"

"Of course, just go now!"

\---

"The damn Serpentine escaped," Garmadon sighed. "I knew those prisons wouldn't hold forever."

Lloyd dropped down off of his bunk bed. "Will this be a problem?"

"It might. The Serpentine are crafty."

"I can handle myself."

"Your confidence is admirable, but not practical. You've never faced a Serpentine before. I didn't even think to train you for it."

"I'll be fine. I promise not to engage with the Serpentine if you tell me where they are?" Lloyd looked at him with big eyes, smiling. "Pleeease?"

Garmadon sighed. "You're persistent."

"I promise I'll just see what they're up to."

"They're at Mega Monster Amusement Park." Garmadon messed up Lloyd's hair. "Be safe."

"Love you."

"I love you, too." As Lloyd left, Garmadon called, "I will hold you to your promise! Don't fight the Serpentine!"

\---

"What are they up to?" Lloyd muttered to himself, following carefully behind the Serpentine. One, a purple one with a long neck- Anacondrai -seemed to be in charge, with the Hypnobrai general as his number two. "If anyone's going to take over Ninjago, it's going to be _me_."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of white. There weren't any white Serpentine. Lloyd stood up cautiously. A flash of blue. A flash of red. A flash of black. 

The ninja.

"Oh, stealthy." Lloyd looked around. "How long have you been following me?"

"Since we saw you at the amusement park." The red one pointed his sword at him. "Lloyd Garmadon."

"Ooo, my name, so scary." Lloyd grinned. "Tell you what, hothead, I'll be on my way. I'm trying to be stealthy, and your brightly colored uniforms are going to blow my location."

"You're sneaking around suspiciously." The blue one, Jay, maybe, squinted at him.

"Oh, is that reserved only for ninja? Sorry."

"Don't think you can fool us. You look innocent, but you're planning to take over Ninjago with your father."

"Right now, I'm just trying to follow some snakes, and you're in my way," Lloyd snapped. "You don't want to be in my way."

"What, trying to recruit them?"

Lloyd growled and jumped at the red one, disarming him with a few well placed punches. "Just leave me alone!"

"Leave Ninjago alone!" The black one, Cole, slashed at him, and Lloyd dodged. 

"Looks like you've put in some hours in training," Lloyd commented. "Do I scare you that much?"

The white ninja sent a blast of ice towards him, and Lloyd dodged, letting it hit Jay. The red one jumped at him, and Lloyd grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm around. "You think you can beat me that easy?" He hissed in his ear. "I was trained by  _Lord Garmadon_. Come on, a battlefield is my playground!"

"There's something wrong with you," the red one spat.

Lloyd was so startled he let him go. "There's nothing  _wrong_ with me!" He said, trying not to let how upset he was show.

A giant metal mech landed from the sky, between Lloyd and the red ninja. Lloyd scrambled backwards. "The hell is that?" He demanded.

"I love my sister!" The red ninja declared. 

Lloyd backed up as the mech aimed at him, and fired a net. He barely dodged. "Hey! That's not fair! I don't even use weapons!"

"Sorry, kid, but no one said I couldn't bring  _my_ weapons," a girl from inside the mech said. Lloyd backed up, and looked below him at the crowd gathering to watch the rooftop fight. 

As a kid, to teach him how to sneak around without touching the ground, his dad played the floor is lava with him, and once he got older and better, the floor actually was lava. For the first part of the mission, Lloyd had been playing the floor is lava. 

"Safe!" He yelled, and jumped down into the crowd, letting himself get lost, nicking jackets and hats and backpacks to disguise his appearance.  _Just find the snakes again. Just find out what the Serpentine are up to._

_There's nothing wrong with me._

\---

"The Serpentine are after the fangblades," Zane said. "With them-"

"They can raise the Great Devourer." Wu rubbed his head. "And you ran into my nephew?"

"He bolted when he saw Nya! He was so weird, though, he had to yell 'safe' before he escaped, and got really upset when Kai said there was something wrong with him."

"The kid thinks beating us up is fun! Something is wrong with him!" Kai insisted. 

Wu sighed. "It's his upbringing. I've met him, back in the Underworld, when I had the Sword of Fire."

"Why didn't we see him?" Jay asked.

"Because he's an expert at hiding himself! He followed me halfway through the Underworld before I spotted him. He didn't have malicious intentions- he was curious. My guess is he dropped through the portal the weapons opened and we didn't see."

"And now he's back in Ninjago...  _WITH GARMADON? GARMADON IS IN NINJAGO?_ Oh, my God, we're going to die." Jay started pacing. "We're actually going to die."

"We're not going to die."

"We're going. To. DIE."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands talk to me about dark lloyd


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sprtizes the beginning of this chapter with whatsit-away* there will be no romantic/requited gree/nflame in this fic let me make fun of lloyd in peace
> 
> i nearly didn't post this bc of the fucking ORANGECOURSE. fuck u sam.

“The Serpentine? Are trying? To raise? The Great? DEVOURER?” Garmadon yelled.

Lloyd rolled his eyes. “I’ve told you that five times now.”

Two of Garmadon’s arms were behind his back, one rubbing his chin. “They cannot be allowed to get the fangblades.”

“Yah, no kidding. Does this mean I can fight them now?”

“Didn’t you just run from those ninja you assured me were no threat?”

Lloyd smarted. “Hey! The _ninja_ aren’t a threat! It’s only when hothead’s sister showed up in a warrior mech-”

“You ran. You never run.”

“It was a tactical retreat,” Lloyd muttered, crossing his arms.

“Son, there’s no shame in running to fight another day.”

“Yah, there is. It meant I wasn’t good enough on my own.” Lloyd exhaled. “Next time I’m not holding back. I’m bringing a sword.”

“Lloyd, your top priority is not to defeat the ninja. It’s to get one of the fangblades.”

“But-”

“No buts!” Garmadon sat down at the table. “Lloyd, just… you’re more powerful than them. Just remember that. You have better training, more power, and you could defeat them with your eyes shut.”

“No, I can’t! Not that huge ass samurai mech!”

“Then don’t fight the samurai mech.” Garmadon shrugged.

“Do we have any idea where the next fangblade they’re looking for is?”

Garmadon smiled. “Maybe.”

\---

“We have no idea where the fangblades are,” Cole whined, banging his head against the mast. “Ninjago is going to get eaten by a giant fucking snake.”

“Language!” Wu hit him in the head with his staff.

“Ow!” Cole rubbed his head petulantly. Jay snickered at him.

Kai growled. “Look, it doesn’t matter if we know where the fangblades are or not!”

“It doesn’t?” Jay blinked.

“No, because of that _brat_ , Lloyd!”

“What if he’s on the ship and he’s listening to us,” Jay whispered.

“He can’t do that… can he Sensei?”

“If he wanted to, I’m sure he would. But he probably doesn’t want to.”

“Just to be safe… Kai, don’t call the scary kid that could kick all our asses a brat?”

Kai rolled his eyes. “He’s, what, sixteen? Just a little more training and we can take him!”

“Yah but like… he’s a kid.”

“Okay, so it’s okay for him to kick _our_ asses, but not okay for us to kick his?”

“Yep.”

“Exactly.”

“Definitely not.”

Kai banged his head against the mast.

“I found it!” Nya said brightly.

“You what?”

“I found a fangblade! Well, I didn’t. Science did!”

“I don’t care how you found it, but I love you?” Kai said.

Nya grinned. “I know. It was recovered from an archeology dig a little bit outside the Corridor of Elders.”

“Oh, so now we steal history?” Jay huffed.

“Would you rather the snakes get it?” Zane asked. Jay ducked his head.

\---

Lloyd wrinkled his nose. The place smelled like dust and old people. Proof of an archeological dig, workers and supplies, were scattered around the area. From his viewpoint on the cliff, Lloyd could see the entirety of the dig site. Now, if he could just figure out where they would put recovered items…

A flash of red entered his vision on the edge of camp. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Lloyd growled, starting to scale down the cliff face.

“Hey! Ninja fuck!” Lloyd yelled. The red ninja looked up at him, slightly surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Getting a fangblade.” The ninja drew his sword. Lloyd grinned. “Oh, fire.”

“There’s something wrong with you,” the red ninja said again, why did he keep saying that?

“There’s nothing wrong with me!” Lloyd snapped. “Where’s the rest of your team?”

“They sent me on ahead.”

Lloyd snorted. “Oh, really?”

“Yah. In fact, we’re surrounding you right now.”

Lloyd’s survival instinct screamed _look around! Look around don’t get surrounded!_ The irrational part of him said _keep poking at the red ninja._

“See, you know what’s not fair?” Lloyd pulled out his sword and took a step forward. The red ninja took a hesitant step back. “You know my name, but I don’t know yours.”

“I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“We have Jay, Cole, Zane, I think, and... “ Lloyd moved his free hand in a _go on_ gesture.

The red ninja laughed at him. Lloyd was a little too distracted and nearly didn’t dodge the golden scythe diving towards him.

Oh. So they had been surrounding him.

Lloyd hissed and turned around. Four. Did the samurai not come? She was the red one’s sister. The blue ninja was closest, and lightning sparked around him dangerous.

“You’re surrounded. Drop your weapon and surrender.” The red ninja aimed his sword at Lloyd.

Lloyd snorted. “What, you think you can take me, pretty boy?”

It slipped out.

The red ninja blinked. “Um. What did you just call me?”

Lloyd paused.

“Oh my God,” Jay whispered.

“No,” Lloyd said.

“I’m… uh, you’re. You’re _way_ too young for me… sorry?”

“Lloyd thinks Kai is pretty,” the blue one snicked.

“I didn’t- no I- um, I-” Lloyd felt his face turning red and he panicked. “I said shitty!” He yelped, throwing a handful of fire in the red one’s face and bolting, fangblade be damned.

\---

“Lloyd. Lloyd come out of your room, it’s been two days. Stay in there any longer and you’ll die.”

“LET ME,” Lloyd’s muffled voice yelled back.

“Lloyd, it isn’t that bad.”

“I let the Serpentine get the fangblade!”

“There’s two more to get. Please just come out of your room.”

“No! Leave me here to _die_ of _misery_ and _embarrassment_.”

“Son, I can’t do that.”

“LET ME DIE.”

“So this is what they all meant by moody teenagers,” Garmadon muttered.

\---

“Kai’s got an admiiiireeeer.”

“Go. The. Fuck. Away.”

“Is it weird? What part of it is weirdest?”

“JAY I WILL THROW YOU OFF THIS BOAT!”

\---

“Lloyd, I know where another fangblade is,” Garmadon said. “Want another chance?”

Lloyd looked up from where he was lying his head on the breakfast table miserably. “Where?”

“It’s part of a trophy. The Blade Cup. It’s part of a talent show. A dancing competition!”

“I don’t dance.”

“You don’t have to. You just have to get close enough to steal it!”

Lloyd sighed. “Can you promise the ninja won’t be there?”

“What? Lloyd, you love beating up the ninja!”

“I never want to see them again as long as I live.” Lloyd hit his head against the table.

Garmadon sighed. “Lloyd. Lloyd, it really isn’t that bad.”

“I faced my _mortal enemy_ and I called him _pretty boy_.”

“Mortal enemy is a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?”

“No. It’s perfectly accurate. I hate him. I hate all of them. I hate the blue one the most.”

“Want to go punch the blue one and make sure Ninjago is still here for us to conquer?”

“Yes- wait, you-”

“You agreed!” Garmadon said cheerfully. “Off to Ninjago City you go, you have to win the Blade Cup! Or steal it, whatever works!”

\---

“What brings you to the most prestigious singing and dance competition in all of Ninjago?”

“My dad wanted me to come.” Lloyd adjusted his bowtie.

“Are you worried about the competition?”

“No.”

“Do you like dance?”

“No.”

The woman was obviously trying so hard to be friendly, but she was doing it wrong. She kept wanting Lloyd to make eye contact with her. She kept… pushing.

“What’s _he_ doing here?” Lloyd heard a hiss from behind him.

A groan. “Oh, come on! Can’t we get _one_ fangblade without running into him!”

Lloyd groaned.

“Shit, he heard us. He’s coming this way! Oh, shit, what do we-”

Lloyd punched Jay in the face.

“Okay, that did make me feel better.” He smiled to himself. “Now what the ever loving fuck are you doing here?”

Cole crossed his arms. “Trying to steal the Blade Cup so I can burn these memories from my head!”

“You want to… steal the Blade Cup?”

Cole paled. “Dad.”

Lloyd took a step back. “This is a little too personal for me. I’m just gonna… go over here…”

The red ninja grabbed his shoulder. “No, because the second we let you out of our sight, you’re going to do something like try to take the Blade Cup. Which _we_ already called dibs on."

“Get your fucking hands off me,” Lloyd snapped. “I don’t need your permission to steal a Blade Cup! I’m just trying to make sure the Serpentine don’t raise a giant fucking snake to destroy us all!”

“And knowing your father, he has some nefarious plot for those blades!”

“He doesn’t, but I do! And it’s to _stab_ every _stupid ninja_ that got in my way.” Lloyd shoved him into Zane. “Now go the fuck away, don’t talk to me, don’t look at me, or you will end up as a Kai-kebab.”

Lloyd stalked away.

\---

“He’s going to kill me,” Kai said finally, slumping against the wall. “I’m going to be murdered in my sleep by a sixteen year old.”

“My dad is never going to talk to me again,” Cole sighed, sitting next to Kai on the wall.

“We will not get that fangblade, and all of Ninjago will fall,” Zane added.

“My face really hurts.” Jay rubbed his rapidly bruising face.

“Can we agree today was just a really sucky day?” Kai asked.

“Yes,” the three of them chorused.

“I feel bad about giving up. We can’t let the Serpentine get that fangblade.”

“What are we going to do? We can’t dance. And Kai is going to be stabbed by the president of his fanclub if we go within ten feet of him.” Jay slouched.

“Yah- wait, can we _not_ call the evil brat the president of my fanclub?”

“Well, he is.”

“Jay! He’s going to kill me! This isn’t funny!”

“Just trying to lighten up the situation.”

“Not. Funny,” Kai grumbled.

Cole stood up. “Wait. We can’t dance. You know what we can do- fight!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Let’s go out there and be ourselves! Let’s just… just…”

“Spinjitzu?”

“Exactly!”

Kai shrugged. “Well, this day can’t get any worse, I guess, huh. So why the hell not.”

\---

“I’m sick of the ninja! I’m sick of them!” Lloyd yelled, throwing his stupid bowtie at his dad. “I’m sick of the blue one and his jokes, I’m sick of the white one and his precision, I’m sick of the black one and his persistence and I’m sick of the red one!”

“No specific thing about the red one?”

“Because I hate everything about him! I hate his stupid hair! I hate his stupid face! I hate his stupid uniform! I hate his stupid sword! I hate my stupid self!”

“Lloyd, please, calm down,” Garmadon said softly.

“No! No, fuck this! Fuck this, I’m not dealing with this bullshit again! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Lloyd kicked the wall repeatedly. “That’s it, get the next fangblade yourself! I’m not going on another mission until you _promise me_ that the ninja will _never_ bug me _again_!”

“I can’t promise that, son,” Garmadon said. “What is this about, really?”

“I can’t… I keep… I…” Lloyd curled up under the table. “I can’t keep _failing_ . This is _three_ fangblades I’ve failed to get. _Three._ Ninjago is going to be destroyed and it’ll be _my fault_ . And those _stupid ninjas’_ faults!”

“Lloyd, you’re not failing.”

“I am! I couldn’t get three fangblades! Three out of four! Because I can’t defeat the ninja! Oh, well, I can, but last time I panicked because I commented I found one of them not horrible to look at! And this time I just fucking… I…” Lloyd sniffled. “I just exploded. I didn’t even try. I left.”

“Lloyd, you’re sixteen. It’s okay to not be perfect.”

“I’ve never failed before.”

“You never had a chance to fail before, son.” Garmadon laughed softly. Lloyd glared at him. “I’m not laughing at you, I promise. But you were raised in the Underworld, and then we spent months in the Shadow Realm. You’ve never had a real mission. You’re young, and you lack experience. That’s all.”

“Well, what a thing to screw up.”

“There’s still one left, okay? We’ll go get it together. Will that make you feel better?”

Lloyd was quiet for a long time, then nodded. Garmadon smiled at him. “Nonverbal?”

Lloyd nodded again.

“I’ll go steal you a fidget spinner, you’ll love it. Be right back, kay? Love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands and shout out to anywayslloydgarmadonistrans for being a huge help in forcing me to get off my lazy ass and write this >:3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i mentioned it last time, but just in chase not everyone was clear- no. this is not a gree/nflame story. absolutely nothing will come of that.

 "This is the  _last_ fang blade. This is our last chance." Kai pointed at the map. "The fire temple."

"It's highly unstable. We can't use our golden weapons," Zane said. "Or our true potentials."

"For those of us who have unlocked it," Jay coughed. Kai glared at him.

"Look, this is it. This is our only shot. We have to take it, and no matter what, we can't get distracted from the objective." Cole stepped forward. "Wu, Nya,  _please_ come with us."

"Someone has to look after the Bounty-" Wu started. 

"And if someone is in danger, I need to be able to be Samurai X-" Nya started again.

Kai threw himself at the ground at his sister's feet. " _Please_. Your armor is the only thing that scares off Lloyd! And we need the backup!"

Nya rolled her eyes. "Fine. Scaredy cat."

"Thank you- hey! I'm not a scaredy cat!"

"I'll set the destination on the Bounty," Jay said, running to the controls. "One semi-active unstable volcano, coming right up!"

\---

Lloyd gulped.

"Scared?" Garmadon asked.

"No!" Lloyd snapped. "I... maybe? That's a lot of smoke."

"The temple is unstable. We have to be quick, sneaky, and quiet."

"That's code for no powers?"

"No powers," Garmadon affirmed. "Have you been practicing your Spinjitzu?"

"Eeeeh?"

Garmadon sighed. "Come on. We'll go the back way."

"Travel in shadows." Lloyd nodded, scanning the area. "Before that... I see something. It keeps moving." And now it was still, and Lloyd sighed.

Bright. Blue. In a VOLCANO. Really, they didn't deserve to be called ninja.

Lloyd nudged his dad's shoulder and pointed. "Ninja. Should I-"

"Don't you dare," Garmadon said. "We can't get distracted."

"They're waving at us." Lloyd growled. "They're taunting us."

"That's Wu. He wants to talk. I promise, they won't attack. And if they do, it will be the last thing they ever do."

Outside of the gates to the fire temple, Lloyd and Garmadon walked up to where the party of ninja, Wu, and the giant metal mech were waiting. Lloyd spent most of his energy looking for ways to take down the mech- if he could convince the driver it was better to fight him without the mech, that would work, but maybe-

"Brother," Wu said. "You're here for the fang blade?"

"I don't want Ninjago to be eaten by the Great Devourer just as much as you do, brother."

"But for very different reasons."

"We can't afford to let the Serpentine get this fang blade."

"Can we work together, just like old times?"

"Just like old times."

Garmadon turned to Lloyd. "We have a truce."

"A what."

Apparently, Wu was having a similar conversation with the ninja, because they burst out, "A WHAT?"

"Get along until the Great Devourer problem is solved, please," Wu sighed. "We have to go, now. Now, to the temple."

Walking up to the volcano, Lloyd hung back, next to Kai, poking his shoulder. "Seventeen," he said as he poked again.

"What are you doing?" Kai snapped.

"Seeing how many times I can poke you before you snap. Eighteen."

"Lloyd, stop poking the red one's shoulder," Garmadon called back.

"Why?" Lloyd asked.

Garmadon considered it. "A very good point. Carry on."

"Nineteen."

"Senseei," Kai whined.

"Be nice to him, he's younger than you."

"Last time we met he threatened to kill me!"

"Be the bigger person."

"Twenty."

"What is wrong with you?" Kai huffed.

"There's nothing  _wrong_ with me." Lloyd stuck out his tongue. Garmadon casually started sharpening his knife against another knife. 

"Normal kids your age don't think beating people up is fun. Most kids your age aren't  _evil_."

Lloyd shrugged. "So?"

"Most kids your age don't  _poke people in the shoulder to see if they'll snap_."

"Twenty three."

Kai growled at him, and Lloyd growled back. Wu sighed. Garmadon seemed interested in what would happen next. 

"Guys! Fang blade?" The girl in the warrior mech said. Lloyd really needed to learn her name. 

Kai backed off. "Fine. But only because I wouldn't want anything to get in the way of that fang blade."

"And I scare you," Lloyd added, and Kai walked up to the front of the group.

\---

The sole Anacondrai, Pythor, raised up the fang blade, glowing red. Lloyd tensed, staring at it with blatant want. 

"Remember- stealth is key. You got that- Lloyd. Lloyd!" Garmadon hissed, then hit his head with his hand as his son jumped down into the middle of the Serpentine. "Lloyd!"

"Hey! Bet you can't catch me!" And then Lloyd started running, with several Serpentine following him, but obviously not all. Garmadon sighed, and jumped down too, slashing at the snakes with four swords.

"You know, that was a bad idea!" Garmadon yelled.

"It's working, isn't it?"

The Serpentine were more numerous, but the others outmatched them in skill. By all definitions, it should have gone well. 

Ha. 

"The volcano is unstable!" The samurai yelled. "We need to get out of here!"

"Not without the fang blade!" Her brother snapped, racing after Pythor. Lloyd ran after him, jumping down on the scattered rocks just like when he was younger. "Lloyd! Careful!" Garmadon yelled, fighting off the Hypnobrai general.

"We need to get out of here!" Wu said, pulling Garmadon back. 

"But- my son? Why the fuck do you want to leave my son!" Garmadon fought back, but Wu was surprisingly strong. 

"Brother-"

A rock fell, cutting off the tunnel from the rest of the volcano. Garmadon banged on the wall. "Lloyd!"

"We have to get out of here, or none of us will!" Wu insisted.

"Your student is in there too!" Garmadon accused. "Are these people just expendable to you?"

"I'm trying to save who can be saved!"

"Can we argue when we're not about to be crushed alive?" Jay yelped.

"Garmadon is right! We can't leave them," Cole argued.

The samurai scooped them all up into her mech's arms. "Sorry, but we have to go. And don't you  _dare_ say I don't care. Don't you dare."

\---

Kai tugged at the fang blade. Lloyd stood anxiously on his precarious and swiftly sinking perch in the lava. "No exits," Lloyd muttered. "No way out. Nowhere to jump. Fuck. Fuck."

"Got it!" Kai pulled out the fang blade, and it clattered onto a rock. Lloyd looked at it, then at Kai. "I... I think I can get to it."

"Unless you can fly. Let me."

Lloyd looked at the rock melting under him. If he didn't move,  _now_ , he wouldn't have a place to stand. "Spinjitzu."

"You can do Spinjitzu?" Kai seemed startled.

 _In... theory?_ Lloyd prepared to jump, and another platform drifted up. He breathed a thank you to the universe and jumped onto it. It was unstable, and smaller than the first, but it got him close enough to the fangblade where he could realistically make the jump. But the platform was wobbly, and he misjumped, and apparently volcano rocks were sharp.

It dug into his side, cutting through his shirt and skin, and Lloyd screamed, collapsing next to the fang blade, reaching for it weakly before it fell into the lava. 

"Kid!" Kai yelled, jumping down next to him, reaching forward. "Are you okay?"

Lloyd shied away from his hand. "I'm fine," he spat. 

Kai looked around. "We have to get out of here."

"There aren't any exits!" 

"Then let's at least get away from the lava. Can you stand?"

Lloyd tried, and screamed. Kai wrapped an arm around him and pulled him to his chest. Lloyd started kicking and screaming. "Let go of me! Let go of me! Get the fuck off me! Let  _go_!"

"Quit kicking! I'm trying to  _help_ you!"

"No! No, you're not!" Lloyd shrieked, trying to pull away from Kai even though his side was killing him. "No! Let go! Stop it! Let go of me! You're going to kill me!"

"Why would I save you just to kill you?" Kai demanded. "Hold still so I can Spinjitzu us to higher ground!"

Lloyd continued fighting. "No! Let go! Let go of me, fuck! Fuck let go! _Please_."

Kai paused for half a heartbeat at the way Lloyd said _please_ like the only thing that mattered in life was Kai letting go of him, at that exact moment. "I'm trying to help!"

"No you are not! Why the hell would you be helping?"

"Because it's the right thing to do!" Kai snapped, and Lloyd was still. Still, silent, but not limp. He wasn't submitting. He was stunned.

Kai went with it, spinning up to a higher ledge. The fang blade fell from Lloyd's grasp, and Kai picked it up, shoving it in his belt. There really was no where else to go.

Kai held Lloyd closer, and Lloyd put up a weak fight. "I don't want to die alone."

"Get over it," Lloyd snapped. "And let go!"

"God, why are you so difficult?"

"Why are you trying to help if I'm so difficult?"

_Because it's the right thing to do. Even if you scare me shitless, you are a kid. You're a kid, you're hurt, and I should do my best to save anyone in danger. Even the guilty. Hell, even the enemy. No one deserves to be left behind. I have to try my best to save you. It's who I am._

Like a light switch. That's _it._

_That's what it is._

\---

Being engulfed in a ball of fire was weird. As the volcano erupted, Lloyd realized he wasn't getting hurt.

Everything was very bright.

Everything until landing on the Bounty was a blur. Then when his feet touched the wood and nothing was holding him up, he collapsed. There were dull voices, but he couldn't tell them apart or what they were saying.

His body, in pain, in shock, and overloaded from sensory input, said,  _you will sleep- now._

\---

Lloyd woke up softly. Groggily. He groaned, and felt the bandages around his abdomen before he saw them. He sat up, leaning against the bed frame, and tried to stretch. His right hand stopped abruptly.

He looked down at the links chaining him to the bed. He was handcuffed.

Really?

Lloyd started working on picking the lock with the picks he kept in his boots when the door opened. He quickly stuffed them away and looked up. Zane. He smiled. "Good, you're awake. How do you feel."

"Pissed." Lloyd tried to hit him, but he wasn't close enough. 

"Your handcuffs are vengestone, to neutralize your powers."

Lloyd frowned and tried to summon a spark, a small flame, dust, ice, green energy, anything. Nothing. He growled. "If I had my powers, you'd be a crisp."

"That is the exact reason you are handcuffed, by the way," Zane said. "But now that you're awake, you should know we've contacted your father. We're meeting in a neutral location to give you back to him."

Lloyd was actually impressed. "You ransomed me? I didn't think you had it in you. What are you getting out of it?"

Zane looked confused. "Why would we ransom you? Giving you back to your father is the right thing to do."

Again with the  _right thing_ bullshit. 

"You... you healed me? You're not going to keep me prisoner? Or grill me for information?"

"Frankly, we're not in the prisoners business. And you'd get more from us than we'd get from you. But, yes, I did heal you. It was that or let you die. Would you have let one of us die? Wait, don't answer that-"

"I wouldn't," Lloyd said. "My motives would be less pure, but I wouldn't leave anyone to die. Well, depends. Not you guys. You're noble, and shit. I'd leave another bad guy to die."

"Oh. Good to know?" Zane said. The ship stopped making that constant humming noise, and started to descend. "We're here."

They were in a park in a small town a little outside of Ninjago City. Garmadon was waiting by a bench, and the second Lloyd saw him, he ran to him. Garmadon hugged him fiercely, and Garmadon and Wu looked at each other, and Garmadon and Lloyd walked away.

\---

Lloyd started playing with the fang blade he'd pickpocketed from Kai. "So, we destroy this, right?"

"You know, it didn't matter who got the fang blade as long as it wasn't the Serpentine."

Lloyd shrugged. "I like to win."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is still witchlightsands and lloyd is still a mood


	4. Chapter 4

“Dad, uh, did we order delivery?”

Garmadon looked up from his newspaper. “Why do you ask?”

“There’s a box of… Master Chen’s Noodles on the porch?” Lloyd picked up the box, analyzing it. “It’s for me.”

“Put it down.” Garmadon stood up, walking over to where his son was sitting on the porch, digging in the box. “Lloyd, put it down.”

Lloyd ignored him, because Lloyd was an ass. “I’m just going to open the fortune cookie. Free food is probably poisoned, but I want to read the fortune.”

“Lloyd don’t-” Garmadon hit one of his hands against his head as Lloyd snapped open the cookie.

“You are invited to Master Chen’s… Tournament of Elements? What the fuck is that?” Lloyd looked at his dad.

“Lloyd, Chen was my old sensei.”

“The one that taught you how to be evil? Wait, he refused a truce. That’s. That’s not okay. If there’s a chance to end a war, you take it, and you give yourself the win, even if it’s a tie.”

Garmadon sighed. “Chen is not to be trusted.”

“He’s promising glory, gold, and the honor of being the greatest fighter in all of Ninjago.” Lloyd raised an eyebrow. “Sounds enticing. Secrecy is of the utmost importance, tell no one… whoops?”

“Lloyd, pretend you never saw it. Just put it down.”

The fortune cookie turned into a puff of smoke in Lloyd’s hand. He stared at where it used to be.

Garmadon sighed. “At least you didn’t get directions.”

“I did. Docks at midnight, a boat is gonna pick me up.”

“No, it will not, because you are not going! Chen is not to be trusted!”

“Looks like he’s gathering elemental masters together,” Lloyd said. “For a tournament, you need contestants. Will they know he’s not to be trusted?”

“No, but-”

“Does Chen probably have a nefarious plot to conquer Ninjago?”

“Yes, but-”

“Isn’t that _our_ job?”

Garmadon crossed his arms. “It’s dangerous.”

“Dangerous? Since when has that stopped me?”

\---

The smell of the sea was too much. The fish was already bad, the amount of people was already bad, but Lloyd almost couldn’t handle the smell of salt in the air. The boat rocked uneasily, and Lloyd wondered if he would get seasick. Maybe just from the smell.

He found a wall to lean against, tapping his fingers against it to keep time. No weapons. Why have an elemental fight club without weapons? Were they expected to use only their powers? Well, that happened to be Lloyd’s forte.

Lloyd kept an eye on the various elemental masters his dad had described. Grandson of the Master of Speed, the Master of Poison, the Master of Mind (Lloyd resolved to send him lots of images of Lloyd poking his eyes out if he even tried to poke at Lloyd’s mind) and others. There was a girl in orange his father hadn’t told him about. Figures.

“Fire will melt her icy heart,” someone said, the voice getting louder as it came up to where Lloyd was hanging out.

“Face it, she doesn’t like you,” a second voice added.

“Shit what if she’s a lesbian and I’m making her uncomfortable.”

“You’re making me uncomfortable,” a third voice added.

“Thank you, Cole, for helping me in my endeavours to get a girlfriend without seeming like an ass.”

Lloyd resisted the urge to groan, loudly. _Not these losers again_. He glanced around, looking for an escape route, when he looked forward and the girl was two feet away from him.

Lloyd jumped. “Oh. Um. Hey?”

“Hi. I’m Skylor.” She held out a hand. Lloyd didn’t shake it. “Who are you?”

“Lloyd.”

Skylor’s eyes widened. “Lloyd Garmadon? Oh, wow, I’m a huge fan.” She reached forward to grab his hand, and Lloyd pulled back. “I have a thing about people touching me.”

“Oh, my bad.” She took a step back. “Well, good luck in the tournament.”

She left, and Lloyd could hear her run into someone. “Oh. You again. Hey.”

“Hi, I’m Kai.”

“And I’m out of here,” Lloyd muttered to himself, leaving the opposite way around than where the voices were coming from.

Of course, avoiding Kai meant running into Zane.

He looked different, and- holy shit, Zane was a robot. Zane was a _robot_. How long had he been a robot?

“Lloyd?” Zane blinked. “What are you doing here- were you invited?”

“No, I snuck on board,” Lloyd rolled his eyes. “Of course I was.”

“Oh, wow. What do you think this tournament is about?”

“Don’t really care.” Lloyd shouldered past him and went to find a place on the boat that didn’t smell like seawater.

\---

“Lloyd’s here,” Zane hissed as the ninja walked off the boat.

Jay jumped. “Oh, my God, we’re dead. We’re so dead. He’s going to kill us.”

“Us?” Kai squeaked. “Me! He is going to kill _me_.”

“Kai, you’re not any more special than the rest of us, we’re _all_ screwed.”

“I haven’t seen him.” Jay crouched behind Kai. “Oh, my God he’s so sneaky and stealthy we’ll never see him coming.”

“What the hell are you doing?”

The four ninja jumped with a yell, hiding behind Cole. Lloyd was staring at them, one eyebrow raised. Jay waved nervously. “Hi… Lloyd? Nice seeing you here?”

Lloyd narrowed his eyes at them. “Well… alright. Fine.”

He walked on past them. Cole looked as he left. “Did he just…”

“Be… nice?”

“That wasn’t nice,” Zane said, frowning.

“It was as nice as he’s ever been,” Kai said. “He didn’t threaten us at all.”

“That’s… weird.” Cole frowned.

Jay let out a squeak. “What if he’s buttering us up so that when he kills us, we had our guard let down!”

“He’s not that devious… is he?”

“You know, you don’t want to be left behind,” Chen’s number two, Clouse, said as he got off the boat. “The others are already at the door.”

“Just… planning strategy!” Kai laughed nervously, grabbing his friends’ hands and dragging them towards the door. “Just stick together. Don’t worry about Lloyd! Maybe he mellowed out!”

\---

“Welcome, all, to my TOURNAMENT OF ELEMENTS!” Chen said enthusiastically, bounding off his throne. “I see so many fighters! Fire, Mind, Poison, Ash, Shadow, and-”

Chen turned to look where Lloyd was sitting on his feet, sitting very still and messing with something small and shiny in his hands.

"Oh, look!" Chen said, his enthusiasm radiating off of him and he grabbed Lloyd and pulled him to his feet. "The green ninja!"

"Don't touch me."

"Well, he's not really a ninja, is he?" Chen threw an arm around Lloyd's shoulders. "He's not even on the right side to be a ninja! Son and apprentice of Lord Garmadon!"

"Let go of me."

"I've heard you escaped unschathed from an erupting volcano! Is that true?"

Lloyd grabbed Chen's arm and twisted it around, coating his hand in ice and shoving it against Chen's throat. "I said don't touch me."

Every elemental master backed up as the ground around Lloyd began to split. “Mellowed out, huh,” Cole hissed to Kai. “Sure! That’s so chill!”

Lloyd let Chen go, and shook the ice off of his hand. Chen looked positively delighted. “Oh, I’m sure we have a wonderful tournament on our hands! I wouldn’t want to be up against the green ninja!”

“I’m not a ninja.” Lloyd sat back down on his feet, crossing his arms and picking up the shiny thing he had been messing with earlier from the ground where he’d dropped it.

Chen ignored him, and went on about how the tournament would work in brackets- Lloyd was up against the Master of Metal, and the Master of Metal paled considerably. Kai scanned the brackets. “Hey, we don’t have to fight each other for a while. But-”

“I’m in the same bracket as Lloyd,” Cole whispered. “If I win my first battle, my next one is against _him_.”

“Maybe he’ll lose?” Jay offered.

Cole glared at him.

\---

Lloyd was shown to his room, and he looked around at it carefully. There was a bunk bed. He touched it apprehensively, then grabbed the top bunk and pulled himself up, kicking away the ladder. The ceiling was high all over the room, high enough so if Lloyd stood up on the top bunk he wouldn’t hit the ceiling.

Of course, he didn’t stand on his bunk bed. He flopped over so most of the upper half of his body was hanging off of the frame, into empty space. He closed his eyes and breathed.

“Master of Metal?” Lloyd huffed out loud. “They couldn’t find anyone else? He’s slower than me- if it’s not hand to hand wrestling, I’ll win by avoidance and being faster.”

“I wouldn’t get so cocky,” Clouse said, the door slamming behind him as he entered. Lloyd turned over so he was laying on his belly, not his back, to get a better look at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Son of Garmadon, no matter how powerful you are, remember who is in charge here. Master Chen.”

“I don’t like people touching me.” Lloyd shrugged, and sat up. “He should have let go when I told him to. He won’t make that mistake again.”

“ _You_ won’t make that mistake again,” Clouse corrected. “Your powers pale in comparison to _mine_.”

“My father told me you were a dark sorcerer.” Lloyd narrowed his eyes at him, and flailed backwards as Clouse started chanting, and purple smoke wrapped itself around his limbs, pulling him ungracefully to the ground. Clouse grabbed the front of his shirt, shoving him back into the wall and holding a knife to his neck. Lloyd froze, every survival instinct shouting different things.

“If you threaten, intimidate, or in any way harm Master Chen again, I will see to it that you take a long walk off a short pier, and your body will wash up on the shore. Do you understand me?”

“Get off me,” Lloyd half growled, half pleaded. He yelped as the knife cut a searing line of pain into his neck.

“Do you understand me?” Clouse hissed again.

“Fine, fine, whatever!” Lloyd yelped again as the knife went deeper. “Yes! Yes, I understand, stop, please, get _off_ of me! Let go, _please_!”

Clouse backed up as Lloyd curled up into a ball against the wall, holding a hand against his neck. “I’m glad we could reach an agreement. Have fun in the tournament, Lloyd _Garmadon_.” He said the name like a taunt, tossed the bloody knife at the ground in front of Lloyd, and left.

Lloyd drew his hand away from the side of his neck to stare at it. It was covered in blood. _Oh_. He felt light headed.

“ _Attention elemental masters! The Tournament is about to begin! Scattered around the island are enough Jade Blades for everyone… save one! Return to the main room with a Jade Blade, or you lose! The Tournament begins… now!”_

Lloyd stood up and looked around, firmly ignoring the pain in his neck when he twisted it to look. He could walk. He could move. He could use his power. He just had to find a Jade Blade and return. There were fifteen of them. He could do this.

He walked out of his room to see fighting in the corridors. He couldn’t fight. He’d try his luck outside looking for a Jade Blade.

Lloyd jogged outside, ignoring how every rapid heartbeat made his neck ache. He definitely ignored how the few elemental masters he passed stared at him for a moment or two. As he passed Neuro, Lloyd forced himself to think, _I’m bleeding because a pink elephant fell on me_ , over and over again. Judging from Neuro's soft laugh, it worked.

Lloyd jogged along the side of Chen’s palace, and fear started to creep in on him. What if all the Jade Blades were inside? What did Chen mean by _use it or lose it_?

A glint of green caught his eye, and Lloyd could have cried. He rushed over to the Jade Blade, and a blast of fire stopped him.

“Don’t you dare,” Kai said. “You’re in the same bracket as my friend. If you get out, it makes it easier on him.”

“You’ll still have to fight him,” Lloyd said, and his head was starting to spin. “Just give me the Jade Blade.”

“No, I-” Kai froze. “Dear Lord, what happened to your neck?”

“I fell,” Lloyd snapped.

“I can’t even see the wound under all that blood… dear God. Did that happen _before_ the Tournament? Between going to our rooms and the event starting?”

“Maybe someone got a little too possessive of their Jade Blade,” Lloyd snapped.

“You only got hurt on accident before. I’ve never known you to get injured _by_ someone. Honestly, you scare me more now that you are. Who was good enough to hurt _you_?”

“It doesn’t matter!” Lloyd’s hands started to crackle with electricity. “That Jade Blade is mine.”

Kai backed away from it, eyes wide, but he didn’t look scared of Lloyd. “I’ll find another. Just go.”

Lloyd picked up the Jade Blade cautiously. He pointed it at Kai. “Don’t test me. This is mine.”

Kai just ran off. Lloyd almost stopped to wonder if he’d scared Kai off, or if Kai had… given it to him. Maybe some combination of both. Kai was a good guy, a ninja that fought with honor- he probably took pity on Lloyd. Lloyd didn’t need or want pity.

Lloyd stormed into the main room, where a complicated stand for the Jade Blades was set up. He wasn’t the first person, but he wasn’t nearly the last, so he walked up proudly and slammed his Blade into the stand. He looked Clouse in the eye. “I think I need a doctor.”

“There is no medical personnel on the island,” Clouse shrugged.

Fear again.

“Do you have a first aid kit?” Zane, who had gotten back before Lloyd, asked, then directly addressed Lloyd. “If you’ll let me, I can patch you up from there.”

Lloyd almost snapped no, but his neck was throbbing. If it got infected… No, he couldn’t win like this. Besides, Zane had fixed him once before. He hated to think about it, but he had.

Clouse hesitated, looked at the elemental masters that were looking between Lloyd and Clouse like it was a tennis match, and said to one of the Kabuki, “go get a first aid kit.”

Lloyd tried to glare at Zane, but couldn’t summon the energy. His neck hurt. _Did Clouse do something to the blade? The cut should have clotted by now._

The Kabuki came back, handing a first aid kit to Zane. “Don’t leave the room,” Clouse said as another elemental master ran in. Kai and Cole weren’t back yet, Lloyd noticed.

“Lloyd, over here.” Zane sat down in a semi sheltered corner of the room. It wasn’t viewable from the entrance, and half of the main area couldn’t see. Lloyd kneeled down as Zane started rummaging in the box looking for antibiotic.

“I was unconscious last time you did this,” Lloyd muttered. “I don’t-”

“You don’t like people touching you,” Zane finished. “I’ll be as efficient as I can, but I am going to end up touching you. I’m sorry.”

Lloyd sat perfectly still as Zane cleaned off his neck so he could actually see the cut. “There shouldn’t be this much blood,” Zane muttered. “Are you hemophiliac?”

“No. I don’t know what happened, or why it’s different.” Lloyd’s voice echoed in the room, and he could feel Clouse staring at him. “Just fix it.”

“Are you allergic to Neosporin?”

“No,” Lloyd snapped. “God, what you did last time worked great, just do that again.”

“I used one of Wu’s teas last time, not Neosporin. Hold still, this is going to sting.”

It stung. Lloyd punched the wall on instinct. “That _hurt_ ,” he said petulantly.

Zane laughed at him. “What’s so funny?” Lloyd demanded.

“Oh, for once, you sounded like a teenager.”

Zane and Lloyd didn’t speak as Zane bandaged up Lloyd’s neck. Lloyd didn’t say thank you when he was done, just stalked to the back of the room and stared at the door, waiting.

Kai unscrewed the Master of Metal’s hand, and took his Jade Blade. Lloyd looked at him as he put it into the stand, and the Master of Metal as he fell through the floor.

The Tournament of Elements was down one.

\---

“What do you think Chen meant by the _or else_ in our invitations?” Jay asked, closing the door behind him as they gathered in Kai’s room. “Come to the tournament _or else_?”

“Look, we have bigger problems.” Kai shrugged.

“Bigger problems than _or else_?” Jay demanded. “Oh, right, how about _Lloyd fucking Garmadon!_ We’re all gonna die.”

“Did you guys see his neck?”

“It was a knife wound,” Zane supplied. “It matches the blade Clouse was carrying the first day, and I didn’t see it again after that.”

“You think Clouse tried to kill him?”

“If he was close enough to do that much damage to someone and wanted them dead, they would be dead. Remember what Lloyd did to Chen? Clouse was probably ensuring he wouldn't do it again."

"You think he threatened Lloyd?" Jay whistled. "He is  _not_ going to take that kindly."

Kai leaned against the wall. "We need to figure out what this tournament is about."

"Uh, guys?" Cole said. "I think I just found a secret passage?"

"Holy shit, nice." 

"Let's go do some spy work."

\---

"Hey, we can look into people's rooms." Cole leaned up to look in one of the holes. "Bet Chen has people watching?"

"Definitely. Alright, from now on, assume no conversation is safe."

"Hey, guys?" Jay called from further down. "This one is Lloyd's. He's hanging off of his bunk bed."

"Hanging like noose, or-"

"No, no! Like... come see?"

Lloyd was indeed hanging off of his bunk bed, in a way that surely all the blood was rushing to his head. He seemed to be looking up at the ceiling, and every once in a while something shiny would flash in his hand.

"This is an invasion of privacy," Zane scolded.

"Do you think if we asked, Lloyd would tell us what happened to his neck?" 

Jay poked around. "Maybe there's a way in-"

He must have pressed the right thing, because a door swung open from the wall. Lloyd apparently heard the noise or saw the movement, and yelped, ungracefully falling from the top bunk onto the lower mattress. He sat up immediately, already forming fists with his hands. "Where the hell did you come from?" He demanded.

"Secret passage," Jay tried for honesty.

Lloyd scowled, and picked up the shiny thing he'd been messing with for the past day from where it had fallen. Now that he was closer, Kai could tell it was a golden fidget spinner. "Go the fuck away."

"What really happened to your neck?" Cole asked.

"None of your damn business."

Kai huffed. "Why are you even here?"

"Chen was my father's sensei. He refused a  _truce_." Lloyd crossed his arms. "A  _truce_."

"And that's on your list of inexcusable things?"

"Yes. Whatever this tournament is for, it isn't for gold or glory. Which reminds me- why the hell did you guys go for this?"

"Gold? Glory? He threatened us! He said to come,  _or else_."

Lloyd snorted. "Figures."

"I'm guessing your neck was your  _or else_?" Kai guessed. "Leave Chen alone, or else?"

Lloyd wouldn't look at him. "Get out of my business. I don't need to owe you any more."

"You owe us?" Kai meant it as a question, but Lloyd must not have heard it that way, because he was completely impatient in responding, "you don't have to rub it in. You saved my life, the lot of you."

"Really, it's not a big-" Zane started.

"Yep!" Jay yelped. "You totally owe us! Your life!"

"Yep, we saved your life," Cole repeated.

Kai could see the logic in it- the longer Lloyd thought he owed them something, the less chance he would kill them. He hadn't threatened them with an early death so far the entire conversation, which was new, and Kai liked not experiencing early deaths, so that was good.

"You obviously know more about Chen than we do," Zane said, changing the subject. "Work together with us to find out what he's up to?"

"If anyone is going to take over Ninjago, it will be me. So let's try to deal with this efficiently for once, okay?"

That wasn't exactly reassuring to hear, but Kai would take it.

\---

"You  _had_ to give us away!" Lloyd screamed as they ran from Chen's angry servants (followers?) and a  _giant ass motherfucking snake_. "For God's sake!"

"Not our fault!" Kai yelled. 

"Argue later, run faster!" Jay shrieked.

"Lloyd, up here!" Cole yelled. "I'm going to make a tunnel! Help me!"

"Fine!" Lloyd helped Cole move the earth away, and dashed into the narrow crack, too small for the snake. Lloyd crouched against the wall, breathing. "You guys are  _awful_ ninja! You cannot sneak at  _all_!"

"Why is the ground shaking?" Zane asked, and the floor beneath them crumbled, dropping them into Cole's room. Kai got squished under everyone falling on him, and Lloyd managed to roll away before getting tangled up in their mess.

"Chen is stealing everyone's powers," Jay said. "He took Karlof's metal."

"He can't have mine," Lloyd spat, already feeling his powers respond to his anger, gathering in his hands and ready to lash out. "I'll die first."

Cole shuffled uneasily, and Lloyd realized that protecting his own powers would mean throwing Cole to Chen and his staff. Hm. 

"It's getting late," Kai said. "We have tournaments to fight in tomorrow."

"Not me," Lloyd said. "My opponent just got... disqualified."

"So, will you work with us?"

Lloyd snorted. "Let's get one thing  _very_ clear. I am in charge here. I say jump, you say how high." Lloyd looked at Kai, and said, "jump."

"I'm not following orders from a sixteen year old."

"Okay, then, you can just die." Lloyd shrugged. "When Chen steals your powers and you're dead, and I get that staff- and believe me, I  _will_ get that staff -I'll remember you. If you want to live, and you want to keep your powers, you listen to me without hesitation."

"I'm seven years older than you."

"Wow, I don't give a shit. Listen to me, or die." Lloyd narrowed his eyes, and looked Kai in the eye. Kai looked back, every bit as intense. Their staring contest wasn't to see who would bend- there wasn't bending, there was breaking.

Lloyd grinned, and his eyes flashed blood red for a heartbeat. Kai shrieked and fell backwards. "What the  _fuck_?"

"Jump," Lloyd said.

Kai grumbled, "I'm not going to ask how high," and jumped.

\---

"What is his game?" Cole muttered, staring at where Lloyd had curled up on the corner of his bed, never mind that it was literally a slab of rock, and promptly fallen asleep. 

"With that kid? Who knows." 

"He looks... so much younger," Jay whispered. "When he's asleep, he looks sixteen."

Kai sighed. "Seeing as Lloyd has commandeered your bed, you can sleep with me, Cole."

"Thanks Kai."

"Do you think we really need him to get through the tournament?" Jay asked.

Zane sighed. "I've run every scenario through my programs. With the information we have so far... we do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands and im a human disaster


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kind of a filler chapter- we get to the good stuff again next chapter, there's just a few scientific kinks i have to work out beforehand.

Kai was still sweating from his battle against the Master of Smoke. The fiery arena was only part of that- the fact he knew what would happen to Ash made it worse. 

He stared out at the last battle of the day, Neuro versus Bolobo, leaning against a tree as they fought. There was a rustling above him, and Kai looked up. Lloyd was sitting in the tree, staring at the battle with intense boredom.

"Are you just allergic to the ground?" Kai asked.

"I like to be up high. Where's the rest of your merry gang?"

"Cole's recovering from his battle, and Zane and Jay are investigating Chen."

"Cole. He's the black one, the one I get to fight next round, right?"

"Get is a very bad word to use there," Kai said. Neuro won the jade blade, and Bolobo fell to his doom. That made five lost elemental masters- Karlof, and the four that had lost the day's battles.

"Whatever," Lloyd muttered. He dropped from his perch in the tree to look at Kai. "I owe you my life, and that's not a debt I'll forget easily. Or one I intend to be in very long."

Kai couldn't ask what that meant, because the dinner bell sounded. The next three battles were tomorrow- since Lloyd's opponent had already been eliminated due to the first challenge, he had the day off. Kai was not sure he wanted Lloyd to have free reign of the grounds, so he said, "You can come watch the fights with me and Cole."

"I'd rather not," he said. Without turning around, he called, "Skylor, I can hear you."

Skylor, who had been walking up behind Lloyd, scowled. Lloyd smiled and turned around. "Good try, but you're not stepping lightly enough with all these leaves."

"What?" Kai blinked.

"She's the Master of Amber. She can absorb any power she touches." Lloyd narrowed his eyes at her. "You're not getting mine."

Skylor just walked away. 

"Are you sure you don't want to stay with me and Cole tomorrow? Clouse hates you, we could help you watch for Skylor-"

Lloyd snorted. "I can handle Skylor on my own. And Clouse wouldn't dare do anything."

Kai decided not to mention the bandage that was still on Lloyd's neck.

"Just because you don't trust me on my own doesn't mean I have to give in to your requests." Lloyd shrugged.

"But staying together is what friends do."

"We are  _not_ friends," Lloyd insisted. "At the moment, we are hesitant allies. I am not your friends, and I will  _never_ be your friend."

He stalked away, and threw a patch of ground up into the tree as he left, letting Kai get showered with earth and leaves.

\---

Lloyd almost didn't go to the dining hall. His hunger and his desire to scope out the competition, along with the appeal of staying on Clouse's good side by not looking like he was sneaking around, overrided his annoyance with Kai. He still stayed away from other people, or maybe they stayed away from him. He'd been told he gave out a  _come near me and I'll kill you_  vibe.

Lloyd didn't look up from his food when he heard the doors open, and heard a woman call out, "Son?" In a hopeful and desperate voice. 

He looked up when Clouse started speaking to the woman. "Ma'am, what are you doing here? This is Chen's island. No one is allowed on without permission."

The woman had grey hair in a braid, and glasses. She looked about as old as Lloyd's dad, and was talking to Clouse boldly, no fear. Lloyd could respect that. "I'm looking for my son? Please, he's-"

She turned around, and Lloyd had the uncomfortable feeling she was looking at him. She dropped her multiple books, and ran to him. Lloyd tensed, ready for an attack, and she hugged him. He didn't hug her back, and stayed frozen until she let go. She grabbed either side of his face and looked into his eyes. Lloyd tried to look away.

"I looked for you," she whispered. "Every day, all these years, I've looked for you. I wanted you."

"Who _are_ you?" Lloyd asked, reaching for the knife on his table.

Her eyes were just as green as his, and they looked hurt. "Did he not tell you about me? Figures. Lloyd-"

"How do you know my name?" Lloyd tried to pull away, but she wouldn't let go, like she was worried he'd disappear if she let go.

"Lloyd, I'm your mother."

" _You're_ Misako?" Lloyd could feel the eyes of the entire dining hall on him. He fought to ignore them. 

Misako looked taken aback. "He told me about you? Whatever he told you is a lie. I wanted you. I looked for you."

"I know you wanted me." Lloyd shrugged. "He told me."

"What did he tell you?"

"Before he was banished, you had an argument. You wanted me to stay in Ninjago, and he didn't want to leave me. So he stole me and took me with him. He said he's not proud of what he did, but he doesn't regret it."

Misako blinked. "That's the truth."

"You didn't think he would tell me the truth?"

"I didn't know what to think. I'm just so glad you're here now." Her eyes were full of tears. "Lloyd, I love you."

"No you don't."

Misako let go, and drew back like he'd slapped her. "What? Lloyd, no, I'm your mother. On it's own that doesn't count for anything, but I looked for you. Every day. I wouldn't do that if I didn't love you."

"You can't love me," Lloyd argued. "You don't know me. You don't know anything about me. You wanted the chance to know me, but you don't actually know me. You love an illusion."

"I'm your mother, we can make up for lost time."

"But I've done fine without you for all these years," Lloyd said. "Why do I need you? Why should I welcome you into my life?"

Misako sighed. "I can't force you to do anything. But please reconsider. Lloyd, you're my son."

"Those are just words and relationships. That doesn't mean anything."

\---

Jay lost.

Jay lost.

Jay lost.

The words kept repeating in his head, and he kept staring at the hole in the ground, but Kai couldn't make sense of the facts.

Jay  _lost_ his contest to Shade.

Jay lost.

Kai stepped back, and stumbled into Skylor. "You okay?" She laughed.

"Jay- he- I- I'm worried," he said, not wanting to be overheard by one of Chen's servants that he knew what the contest was really about. Stealing everyone's powers.

Like Jay's.

"I'm so sorry," Skylor said, squeezing his hand. Kai remembered what Lloyd said, about Skylor gaining the powers of the people she touched. He didn't care. "He must have been really special to you."

"Yah," Kai whispered. "He was. He was special to all of us," he added quickly. "I didn't think we'd lose a teammate so quickly."

"We're two days in, and down to 8 contestants." Skylor shuddered. "Hey, my next match is against Shade. How about some good old fashioned revenge?"

"You were going to try to win anyways."

"Yes, but now I'm double motivated." Skylor grinned.

Kai thought about it. He, Skylor, Zane, Cole, Chamille, Neuro and Lloyd were the ones advancing to round two.

And the day after tomorrow, Cole and Lloyd would fight, and one of them would lose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands and my favorite hobby is making aus where misako is a decent mom


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy spooky day everyone!!!

"No weapons," Lloyd laughed, digging in his bag. "What do these idiots think I am, an amateur?" He grinned. "Ah, there it is." He held up a solid container of... something.

Kai shuffled his feet. "What is that?"

Lloyd held up a small glass bottle, filled with a blue liquid. "Well, _this_ is copper solution. This one is lithium, sodium- stop that." Lloyd slapped Cole's hand as he reached for one of the bottles scattered across Lloyd's bed. "Don't touch my shit."

"Why do you have this?" Zane asked, looking at but not touching a thin strip of metal. "My scanners indicate this is magnesium."

Lloyd shuffled in his bag more, and pulled out a blowtorch. "You never know when you need to start a fire." He grinned, and the fire from his blowtorch reflecting in his eyes. 

"You have fire powers," Kai reminded him with a flat expression.

Lloyd gave him a look. "But can my powers do  _this_?" He got out a q-tip, swirling it around in the copper solution, and lit it on fire. The q-tip lit up green. "Copper burns green." Lloyd smiled at his fire until it wore itself out and started burning the cotton on the q-tip instead of the copper, then froze the smoldering q-tip with ice. 

"Why do you have all this?" Zane asked again. 

Cole answered. "It's a weapon. In a sense. You can use all this in creative and deadly ways, can't you?"

Lloyd just grinned. "They won't deny me a 'science experiment'. I like having magnesium on hand." Lloyd started putting up what he didn't seem to want at that moment. "Bet you're wishing you'd found a way to bring your golden weapons."

"Actually, we gave them up. Shot them into space." Cole shrugged. "We unlocked our elemental powers without them, and they were getting too dangerous to keep."

Lloyd froze. He nearly dropped his bottle of potassium solution. "You. Did.  _What_?"

"What, upset you and your dad can't use them to take over Ninjago?" Kai spat.

Lloyd spluttered something. "You- those were  _artifacts_! And you- you- you  _shot them into space?_ " He screeched. "Those- those were- what- the First Spinjitzu Master made those! Those were the Weapons of  _Creation itself_. And you shot them into space."

"Well, sorry, pipsqueak, but we couldn't let your  _dad_ get them." Kai crossed his arms.

Lloyd glared at him. "Do you bite your thumb, sir?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Kai blinked. 

"Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?"

"I-I'm sorry, is that  _Romeo and Juliet_?"

Lloyd shrugged and continued putting up his science shit. "Get out of my room," Lloyd snapped. "I have a fight tomorrow."

Cole winced. Zane wrapped an arm around his shoulder and lead him out of the room.

"That was tactless," Kai pointed out once Cole and Zane had walked out.

Lloyd didn't look up from the silvery powder he was pouring into a container. "I don't care. I'm not here to make friends."

"I can tell."

"Just get out."

"With your attitude, how did you ever make friends?" Kai wondered. 

"I don't have any. Now get _out_ before I make you." Lloyd glared at him, lightning sparking in his hand. 

Kai turned tail and ran from the room, but he could hear Lloyd mutter lines from _Julius Caesar_ as he worked on whatever he was working on.

\---

Lloyd showed up for breakfast. "Oh, wow, I don't think I got any sleep last night," he commented, looking perfectly well rested. 

Cole gave him a cautious look. "Really? You seem pretty upbeat and-"

Lloyd silenced him with a glare. "So tired," he deadpanned.

Lloyd's mother had been allowed to stay, grudgingly, if only because she threatened to tell the entire mainland about Chen's tournament if they kicked her out. She tried to greet Lloyd, but he brushed right past her. 

"Lloyd seems colder than usual," Zane commented. "And there are trace amounts of magnesium powder all over him."

"Maybe he's nervous," Cole laughed. "I know I am."

Chen's voiced echoed through the speaker system. " _Master of Earth, and the green ninja! I hope you're ready! Meet in the arena in twenty minutes!"_

Lloyd stood up, and walked towards the door. The Elemental Masters parted to give him a wide berth, like they knew what would happen if they got too close. As Cole walked towards the door, they acted like it was a funeral march.

"Alright, I know I'm going to loose, but do they have to be so pessimistic about it?" Cole huffed to Lloyd, catching up to him. "Anyways, so, uh, good luck?"

"I don't need luck. I have skill." Lloyd's response was chilly. Cole watched Lloyd's clenched fist- it was cycling through the elements Lloyd controlled. Earth, ice, lightning, fire, then a small green light, in a cycle, spinning around his fist. "Everything will work itself out."

\---

The arena was a rocky cliff face. There were multiple handholds that Lloyd could see, even places to stand for a while. The jade blade was stuck into the rocks at the bottom of a... hm, 100, 150 foot drop.

" _Start_!" Chen commanded. Lloyd barely spared Cole a glance, and didn't even bother with hand holds. He created platforms for him to jump down on, jumping down five feet at a time. 

A rock aimed towards Lloyd's head. He blasted it away with lightning, and glared at Cole, who was going down the old fashioned way, but still quicker than Lloyd. "Hey!" Lloyd snapped. 

Cole managed a shrug, jumping down to his next position. Lloyd growled and made a platform for them both to stand on, and swung at Cole. Cole stumbled as he dodged, and Cole was stronger, but Lloyd was quicker. He dodged Cole's next attack, and knocked the ninja off balance, freezing his foot to the cliff with ice. Then he started climbing downwards again. 

Lloyd was strong, but not the kind of strong for a prolonged rock climbing experience. He had exactly zero experience with rock climbing. He knew he was supposed to use the strength in his legs more than his arms, but he felt if he let go with his arms, even a little, he'd fall and break his neck. He had to make his own footholds, because he kept choosing the wrong path down. 

Lloyd could see Cole climbing down too, but ignored it in favor of not falling. He couldn't ignore it when rocks, mostly pebbles, started to rain down on his head. Lloyd sent a blast of fire in Cole's general direction, and kept going down.

Lloyd landed on the rocky ground just a few seconds before Cole did. Then, with absolute hatred for what he was about to do, Lloyd took a deep breath-

-and tripped.

He tripped, subtly. No one could suspect it was on purpose, except Cole, who saw there was nothing for Lloyd to trip on. All of Lloyd's power seemed to be screaming at him.  _No, don't give me up!_ It screamed.

Cole picked up the jade blade. The crowd roared. Lloyd stood up, and faced where he knew the ninja were sitting and watching.

 _Now we're even_ , he thought.

Lloyd had no rock climbing experience. He had a lot of experience in dodging knives being thrown at his head (the skeletons didn't like him very much) and he felt the movement of the blade and heard the slight whoosh of air before he saw it. Lloyd turned, and snatched the jade blade out of the air.

"We were even," Lloyd hissed. "We were  _even_."

Cole just smiled. "Not quite yet."

Then he disappeared into the ground.

\---

Lloyd wouldn't let go of his jade blade. He stalked through Chen's castle, going to Kai's room, blade in hand. He threw the door open. Kai and Zane were both there, talking seriously. 

Unceremoniously, Lloyd grabbed Kai's shoulder and shoved him against the wall, shoving the jade blade against his neck. "Why did he do that?" Lloyd demanded. "I let him win! He must have seen that! I  _let him win_!"

"And he let you win!" Zane yelled. "Let Kai go!"

Kai said nothing, just looking at Lloyd with wide eyed fear. A jade blade was dull, but Lloyd was far beyond mad.

"You saved my life, so I was willing to give up my powers! We were  _even_. We were going to be even! And he didn't let me pay you back!" Lloyd growled. "Did you tell him to do that?"

Zane was watching with abject horror. "Please let Kai go," he said, blue eyes piercing. 

"Why did he do that?" Lloyd yelled. "I'm asking  _you_! Tell me!"

"It was the right thing to do," Kai rasped. 

Lloyd dropped his jade blade. It hit the ground with a clatter. Lloyd made a disgusted noise and let go of Kai like that limited contact had burned him. "Again with your  _right thing_ bullshit. Don't any of you understand  _self perseverance?_ "

"You, objectively, are the most powerful person here," Kai said. "If Chen got your powers, it wouldn't be good. Maybe Cole was just thinking practically."

"Maybe," Lloyd muttered. "I'll ask him."

"What do you mean?" 

"We're going to find the others, and we're taking down Chen. Tonight. I'm sick of these games."

\---

Kai didn't want to be down in the secret passages with Lloyd. Lloyd had a container in his hands that he wouldn't let Kai get a good look at, and constantly muttered to himself. It wasn't silence, but it was close enough. Kai hated silence.

"So, you've never had any friends?" Kai tried.

"And you're not one, so stop it," Lloyd growled. He lit the way with a small green light- his own personal power.

Kai decided that was a safe subject. "Why don't you use your green power that much?"

"I'm not used to it. I discovered it fairly recently. I grew up learning how to control ice and fire and the like, but I've only had this for a few years. I'm... still working on it."

"You said you can do Spinjitzu?" 

Lloyd just shrugged. "Sort of. I'm not very good, but in a pinch, I could."

"Cool." Kai ended up blurting out, "why Shakespeare?"

Lloyd grinned. "Why  _not_?"

Kai had to see the reason in that. "And the... magnesium? Copper?"

"I like chemistry. And Starfarer comics." Lloyd shrugged again. "What, you think I just spend all day in a room muttering  _ninja_ under my breath and plan how to conquer Ninjago?"

"Maybe?" Kai admitted. "You seem... pretty single minded."

"Maybe because you're not a person I trust to say all this to."

"Then why tell me now?"

"You asked."

"You make no sense to me."

"You don't make sense to me."

They walked more. "Are you sure Zane is telling the other Elemental Masters?" Lloyd asked.

"If Zane said he'd do something, he'll do it."

"How long has Zane been a robot?"

"Forever, I guess. One mission he got really banged up, and Jay had to repair him. Eventually, Jay got so tired of repairing him he went up to this inventor, Cyrus Borg, and said 'hey, I need to borrow your lab to build my robot friend a new body that won't fucking break all the time' and-" Kai stopped midlaugh, suddenly sad. "I miss him."

"Shush," Lloyd hissed. "I hear someone."

Kai huffed a little, but he was quiet. Lloyd was right- Clouse was approaching, along with several of Chen's followers. Lloyd tossed the object in his hands from hand to hand, making sure there was no more than six inches of space between each hand at any given point anyways.

"Alright, when I throw and ignite this, run like hell, and  _don't_ look at it," Lloyd commanded in a hiss. "Ready?"

"What are the consequences if this goes wrong?" Kai asked.

Lloyd thought about it. "Anywhere from first to third degree burns, temporary blindness, permanent blindness, and fiery, fiery death."

"Great, is there a plan B?" 

"No time!"

"There they are!" Clouse yelled. 

Lloyd threw his container and sent a blast of fire after it. Even as Kai ran away, he could see the intense white light that sprang up in the wake of Lloyd's contraption.

"What was that?" Kai yelled as he ran.

"Magnesium burns  _very_ intensely," Lloyd commented gleefully. "Now come on, it also explodes when it comes in contact with water, and I put a lot of both in there."

On cue, there was a roaring sound. The two ducked down another pass. "It won't create a giant fireball," Lloyd kept saying. "But it  _is_ still an explosion, and between the light, explosion, fire, and pissing off Clouse, we needed to get the hell out."

"Did-did you make a  _bomb_ out of the shit you brought here?" Kai demanded.

Lloyd was bouncing on his toes. "More of a flash bang."

"That's terrifying. Did your dad teach you that?"

"No, but he encouraged my interest in chemistry."

"I bet Clouse is pissed."

"Then we better get out of the tunnels and fight him in the open, with the other elemental masters." Lloyd didn't stick around much longer than that, walking forward. 

\---

"Did you find Cole and Jay?" Zane asked hopefully.

"No. Sorry." Lloyd shoved right past him. "Skylor, don't even  _think_ about it!"

"Chen probably knows we're rebelling," Kai said.

"Why? This was supposed to be stealthy!"

"Uh, Lloyd threw a bomb at Clouse. Well, a  _flash bang_."

Zane rolled his eyes. "Well, now we know what the magnesium was for."

"How are the elemental masters getting along?"

"Pretty okay. There's only been one fight."

"When?"

"Right now." Zane darted to the other end of the room where the masters had gathered. "Lloyd! Neuro! Stop that!"

After a heated discussion, Lloyd walked to the other side of the room, leaning against the wall next to Kai. "If you hate me so much, why are you always so close?" Kai demanded.

"Because we're a team, remember." Lloyd grinned. "Besides, I don't like you, but I guess I trust you."

Kai blinked. "Okay then. What was that with Neuro about?"

"He was trying to read my mind again. I don't like it. My head is _my_ head."

Silence for a few moments. "So..." Kai kicked a piece of loose tile. "What now?"

Lloyd spread out his arms. "Cry 'havoc' and let slip the dogs of war."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands i love lloyd and julius caesar isnt THE worst english assignment ive ever had


	7. Chapter 7

Lloyd wanted to be alone. There was a wide expanse of forest all around Chen's house- the elemental alliance was hiding there, for the time being, but Lloyd couldn't stand it, so he wandered off. 

He practiced kicking a sturdy tree. It didn't bend, which Lloyd was impressed with. He kicked it some more. 

"Little Garmadon," Clouse drawled, walking out of the bushes. Lloyd scrambled back. "How did you find me?" Lloyd demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"You and I have unfinished business." Clouse lunged at Lloyd. Lloyd dodged swiftly, and kicked Clouse. Unlike the tree, Clouse bent. In fact, he bent over, clutching at his stomach. 

Clouse hissed something in a foreign tongue, and a spinning black void opened up under Lloyd's feet. He was just fast enough to grab one of the many bushes, and still was nearly sucked in.

"Your father banished the Anacondrai generals to the Cursed Realm!" Clouse laughed. "I'm sure they'd love a snack!"

Lloyd tried to pull himself up. He felt something cold slip past his ear, like a revenge. Revenge could be a noun. A revenge, a curse, an anger, lots of things like that. That's what the void contained.

Lloyd decided he didn't want to fall into it.

Lloyd pulled himself up, but Clouse stood on one of his hands. Lloyd winced, and Clouse leaned down and started to unwind Lloyd's fingers from their precarious grip on the bush. 

Lloyd took a deep breath, and with every ounce of strength he possessed, he pulled himself up, and knocked his head against Clouse's. It made Lloyd see stars, but Clouse hadn't been expecting it, so he stumbled back. Lloyd dragged himself up back onto solid land, and shoved Clouse in.

Clouse's scream cut off as soon as he was completely in the void. It closed behind him. Lloyd leaned against his tree, head spinning, barely managing to breathe. He tried to shake off the shivery feeling. Then he stood up and went back to the others.

\---

"Hey?" Lloyd called, and then promptly shut the fuck up. The base camp looked ransacked.

Lloyd groaned. Of course. Clouse had found him, so Chen had found the others.

"Lloyd?" Misako whispered, poking her head out of the bushes. Her eyes were wide. "They-they took everyone."

Lloyd swore up and down and threw a rock. "Come on," he snapped. "We're going."

"Lloyd, are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Lloyd snapped, ignoring the spinning in his head. "We can't let Chen win."

\---

Lloyd wandered around in the dark, dizzy. His fire kept spluttering out, but he made it come back. He needed it.  _Stay with me_ , he begged his powers.

"Lloyd?" Kai's voice rasped, and he ran up, holding a torch. "Oh, thank God!"

Lloyd grinned, despite himself. "You're okay!"

"Barely," Kai huffed. "Chen took all our powers. I managed to escape, but-"

"I don't care. Don't worry, the cavalry is here." Lloyd nearly fell over, but he didn't. He caught himself. "I'm here to save your ass."

"Good. Chen is this way."

Kai was silent the entire way, which was strange, because Kai was  _never_ quiet. Lloyd tried to provoke him, but he just brushed it off. Kai  _never_ brushed it off.

He turned to Lloyd. "I'm so sorry. This will all make sense when it's over!"

Kai blew out the light, and Lloyd could feel hands grabbing at him in the dark.

"No!" Lloyd screamed, and he wanted to cry. "Kai, you  _bastard_! Let go! Let go of me!"

"He doesn't like to be touched," Lloyd thought he heard Kai said, but it was faint, and didn't make him feel better.

Lloyd's head was swimming and his eyes weren't adjusted to the dark and he felt  _betrayed_ right down to his bones and he was tired and he was scared and he didn't want to loose his powers and he didn't want to die.

He was in the main room, and Chen was standing there with his staff, laughing. Lloyd tried to fight, but his head was killing him, and no matter how strong he was, he couldn't combat the entire collection of elemental powers all at once.

Lloyd was tossed against the wall, and he heard something in his leg or arm or chest go  _snap_ , and he blacked out.

\---

Lloyd was being dragged down to a chamber, and he thought critically, taking note of things from most to least important.

His headache was gone. He didn't give himself a concussion.

The snap had been the wall as he was tossed into it, not any bones or internal organs.

Kai was walking beside Chen, and beside Skylor. Skylor was walking beside Chen. (Of course. Lloyd's face blindness had cursed him again- now that they were next to each other, Skylor was clearly Chen's daughter.)

Chen had his staff, and was grinning proudly.

Lloyd could still feel his power, thrumming in his veins, a part of him. But he knew it wasn't for long.

His chains were sturdy.

That was his circumstance.

Lloyd was forced to kneel at a platform.

"Any last words?" Chen grinned, and Lloyd knew. Once Chen stole his powers, Chen was going to kill him.

Lloyd looked straight at Kai. Kai crossed his arms. "Last words?"

" _Et tu, Brute_?" Lloyd whispered. " _Then fall, Caesar_."

"Hold on." Kai held up a hand to Chen, and got down to Lloyd's eye level. Lloyd met his gaze evenly- well, it appeared he was. He was looking at Kai's eyebrows, really, not his eyes.

"Julius. Caesar." Kai said every word like it was something distasteful. "You really want your last words to be from  _Julius. Fucking. Caesar._ "

"I like Shakespeare."

"There are  _so_ many other better betrayal quotes!" Kai threw his hands in the air. "And you chose  _et tu Brute_."

"I like Julius Caesar." Lloyd was hurt. "What, do you want me to try again?"

"Yes, please." Kai huffed.

Lloyd narrowed his eyes, and proclaimed in falsetto, "Romeo, o Romeo, wherefore art thou being a  _dick_. The wherefore means  _why_ ," he added.

Kai just rolled his eyes. "Oh, just kill him."

"No!" Lloyd yelled, surging forward, kicking backwards, anything. "No!"

"Powers first," Chen said, and touched his staff to Lloyd's forehead.

Lloyd yowled as he felt  _part_ of him being ripped away. He was shaky, and he coughed. Skylor looked concerned, actually. 

"Chen, you forgot an element," Kai commented casually.

Chen looked at him quizzically.

"The element of... SURPRISE!"

The sky fell open.

Well, not the sky, but the ceiling. A jet fell from it. Kai and Skylor both leaped at Chen, and Lloyd rolled out of the way of a sword and a missile. Without guards holding his handcuffed hands, Lloyd could reach his boots and his lock picks. He shook off his manacles, and unlocked the chains around his feet.

Chen had already kicked Skylor away, and Kai was frozen to the ground. Lloyd ran to Chen, and gripped the staff. The power under his hands hummed.  _Me, me, you want me,_ it hummed.  _Your power, and more_ , it hummed.

Lloyd ignored its humming and focused on his utter rage at Chen. "You assumed-" Lloyd growled, "-that taking my powers would make me helpless. All you did. Was piss. Me. _Off_."

Chen wrenched the staff away from Lloyd, and blasted at him with lightening. Lloyd dodged and kicked him in the back of the knee. It buckled, and Lloyd grabbed for the staff again. "You have met your match, Lloyd Garmadon," Chen declared, and his voice was dead serious.

"One day," Lloyd agreed. "But it won't be you."

Lloyd wrenched the staff away. The power in it... he shook his head, and smashed it against a rock.

The power was free to return where it wanted to go- back to it's master. Lloyd felt his soar back into him, and he grinned. He blasted Chen with his green power, and Chen was thrown across the chamber.

Lloyd felt blood drip down his chin. Chen had gotten in a good hit to his face. He couldn't tell if he was bleeding from his mouth or nose or somewhere else, but he tasted blood on his tongue and felt it drip down his chin. He wiped it off with his sleeve.

Kai came up to him, and said, "there's something wrong with you."

Lloyd gave him a blood splattered smile. "I don't know what you're talking about."

\---

Lloyd was so glad to be back on the mainland. He never wanted to step foot on a boat again as long as he lived.

He laughed.

He laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and thus concludes the season 4 arc!! next is season 5. are you ready kids~!
> 
> my tumblr is witchlightsands yell at/with me


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO THIS FIC ISNT DEAD I JUST GOT A WEIRD ASS OBSCURE INTEREST IN LOKI ITS ALL GOOD AND THIS FIC IS ALIVE AGAIN LMAO

Lloyd stayed out way too late.

His father always told him nothing good happened after midnight, and Lloyd never listened to him. Garmadon just sighed and said he couldn’t stop him, but he wanted Lloyd to be careful.

Lloyd was not careful.

He was walking home alone, in the dark, in a barren part of the city. He was practically asking for disaster. He had a small green light in his hand, and thought he was safe. 

Lloyd felt a breeze at first, and then a powerful gust of wind- an unnaturally powerful wind -that blasted him into an alley. Lloyd righted himself and glared out at a figure in his path.

“So you’re the  _ green ninja _ .” Lloyd didn’t like his voice. It felt wrong. Everything about this figure, glowing green and smirking like he knew a secret, felt wrong. Lloyd wanted him gone. He didn’t belong in the world.

“I’m not a ninja,” Lloyd said, reaching for his knife. Then he realized. “You’re a spirit. From the Cursed Realm.”

The ghost rolled his eyes. “Well, aren’t you  _ clever _ .” He spit out the word. He glared at Lloyd with hatred, but maybe something else.

Lloyd took a step back. “What do you want?”

“Not much.” The figure stepped forward, and Lloyd’s survival instincts went wild screaming danger. Danger in the ghost’s stance. Danger in the glint in his eyes. Danger. Danger.  _ Danger _ .

Lloyd threw the knife at him. He dodged, and leaped at Lloyd. Lloyd blocked his first swing, and the impact sent vibrations up his arm. He swung at the ghost, and the ghost dodged, but Lloyd managed to swipe his legs out from under him. 

Lloyd realized a few seconds into the fight that they were evenly matched. The ghost was every bit as smart, fast, and strong as him. Lloyd had a greater variety of powers, but this ghost matched his expertise in them with his wind.

Lloyd began to wonder if he might lose.

Lloyd didn’t hold anything back, and was filled with fear for his life. He didn’t know what this ghost wanted, and he didn’t think it was good. He kicked the ghost in the stomach, and the ghost stumbled. Lloyd didn’t pause, and with two quick punches, the ghost was on the ground. Lloyd grabbed the closest thing that would function as a weapon- a discarded broken plastic knife -and held it against the ghost’s throat.

“No, wait, please don’t send me back to the Cursed Realm,” the ghost begged, eyes wide. “It’s horrible there.”

Lloyd made the stupidest mistake of his life, right then. He paused. 

The ghost did not pause, and tossed Lloyd against the wall. Lloyd felt his ankle twist as he fell to the ground, and he gasped. The ghost knocked him onto his stomach and planted a foot on his back. For a ghost, he succeeded in knocking the breath out of Lloyd’s lungs. As Lloyd tried to breathe, the ghost laughed.

“Compassion seems to run in the family,” the ghost said coldly. “It was Wu’s downfall, and now it’s your’s.”

“What do you know about Wu,” Lloyd managed, trying to get up, and failing. 

The ghost didn’t answer, and Lloyd couldn’t see his face, but he thought he was smiling.

The ghost’s name was Morro. Lloyd knew this as the ghost possessed him. The ghost drove Lloyd into some corner in the back of his head, and took control of his body.

Lloyd screamed.

\---

“Woah, what’s with the wind?” Jay asked, frowning as he looked down from the deck of the Bounty. “We’re not moving? It’s a clear day? It wasn’t windy literally five seconds ago?”

Wu paused his lesson. “We need to move. Now.”

“Why?” Cole asked, worry seeping into his voice.

“There’s something I haven’t told you.”

“Not again,” Kai groaned. 

“Just get us moving!” Wu snapped. “I know that wind.”

Night lessons were a pain, but they usually had them in good weather. Now the weather was rapidly turning now good. Clouds formed in the sky, and the wind threatened to tear the sail off. 

“We need to land!” Nya shouted. “Or we’ll get knocked out of the sky!”

“That’s what he wants!” Wu yelled. 

“Who is he?” Kai demanded.

“My first pupil. Morro, the Master of Wind.”

“What? You had  _ other students  _ before us?” Jay said.

“And you’re just now telling us when it directly threatens our lives?” Zane screamed. 

“I’m landing!” Nya shouted over the speakers. “Or we’ll crash!”

The Bounty started to descend in an empty parking lot. Someone dressed in green and black was standing in the middle of the lot, and holding their hands up. 

Kai jumped off the Bounty, sword raised, then froze.

It was Lloyd. His hair was black, and there were shadows under his eyes, and he looked paler, if that were possible, but it was Lloyd Garmadon.

Lloyd could do a lot of things, but he couldn’t control the wind.

“The staff, Wu!” Lloyd- not Lloyd, his voice was different -demanded. “I want the staff!”

“You’ll have to take it from me, Morro!” Wu shouted back.

Kai threw a fireball at Morro, who was in Lloyd’s body. Morro dodged, and laughed. “Really? That’s all you got!”

“Ninjago!” Jay cried out, running at Morro with a blue tornado of Spinjitzu. Morro flicked his wrist and Jay was thrown off balance, falling into the wall of the closed fast food restaurant. 

“Lloyd?” Zane stepped forward like he was approaching a wild animal. “Lloyd, are you alright?”

“Lloyd?” Morro laughed. “Oh, he’s pissed. Keeps going on about what he’s going to do to me once he’s free. No actually uses the word  _ disembowel  _ anymore, God, child.”

Zane threw a shuriken at him, and Nya jumped down in her Samurai X suit, running at Morro. Morro dodged, and ran at Wu, and grabbed for the staff. Cole took the staff back, and Kai jumped at Morro, using a trick Lloyd liked to use on him, holding Morro's arm so that one wrong move and Kai would break it. 

Morro laughed. He laughed like a madman. "This isn't  _my_ body. Go ahead."

"Let go of Lloyd,"

Morro started to laugh again, and it turned into a strangled howl. "Kai!" It was Lloyd. "Get the hell away! Go! Leave! A _aah_!"

"Lloyd?"

"He's Wu's ex-student, he wants to curse the world, you have to stop him-" Lloyd yowled, and Kai let go of him. Fire started to swirl around him, caught up in a tornado of fire and wind. "Get.  _Back_ ," Lloyd growled.

Kai stumbled backwards, away from the tornado of fire. He ran back onto the Bounty, filled by pure terror and instinct reaction. The staff wasn't in Cole's hands anymore, but Kai didn't care. He just kept staring at the fire tornado, like something out of a science video on the internet, as Lloyd and Morro fought.

The fire flashed out in a puff of smoke. The wind disappeared far more purposefully.

This was so not good.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands i love lloyd more than this fic and my constant hurting him implies


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaa thank you so much everyone for your patience, all your lovely comments have healed my writer's block, and i can finally put the plot of this fic into words ! <3

Alarms went off in the morning, and Kai fell off the top bunk onto the floor. 

“What the-” Kai started, and Jay was already dragging him upwards, eyes wide. “It’s sensei,” he whispered urgently. “Hurry!”

Kai was suddenly wide awake. He rubbed his shoulder as he ran onto the deck with Jay. 

Garmadon was standing on the deck, a knife held to Sensei Wu’s neck. “Ninja!” He snapped. “We need to  _ talk _ .”

“Fuck off!” Kai snapped back. “Let Wu go!”

Garmadon growled at him. “My son has been taken.”

“He’s possessed by an evil ghost, yah, we noticed,” Cole said, reaching slowly for his scythe. 

Zane motioned for him to put the weapon away. “Garmadon,” he said, slowly approaching. “What do you want?”

Garmadon looked at him with cold eyes, blazing red. “Get my son back,  _ or die trying _ .”

“How do we do that?” Jay squeaked.

“Figure it out,” Garmadon said with a snap. “Lloyd is being possessed by the ghost of Wu’s old dead student, master of wind. That’s all I know. I don’t know what Morro is after-”

“And you think we do?” Kai demanded. “Hell, you expect us to  _ die  _ for your son? He  _ hates  _ us.”

Garmadon glared at him, pointing another knife at Kai. “Figure. It. Out. Because I’m telling you now, I’m keeping your sensei as collateral.”

“You can’t do that!” Cole argued. 

“My  _ son  _ is being possessed!” Garmadon yelled. “I will do whatever it takes to get him back!”

“Then why us, not yourself?” Kai asked. 

“Your lives are expendable to me. And I  _ am  _ looking, too.” Garmadon started to back up, closer to the plank. “Don’t look for me.”

“Wait-” Kai started, but it was too late. Garmadon and Wu disappeared over the plank. 

He looked back over at his teammates. “This is so not good.”

“You fucking  _ think _ ?”

\---

They landed the ship and held an impromptu meeting on the deck. Nya, who’d been flying the ship during the entire exchange, had to be caught up to speed, and then they needed to discuss their next move. 

“Is it too late to run away to Birchwood Forest for good?” Cole tried. 

“Yes!” Nya insisted. “Wu is in danger, a child is in danger- all of  _ Ninjago  _ is in danger!”

“Okay,” Cole said in a very small voice. 

“We aren’t prepared for this,” Jay said. “We know  _ nothing  _ about what this guy wants.”

“I already called someone who can help,” Nya assured him. 

“Who?” Zane asked. 

“Lloyd’s mother.”

“Misako?” Kai asked incredulously. “Alright, you’ve gone off the deep end.”

“She’s an archaeologist, a historian, and definitely knows more than we do.”

“Lloyd hates her.”

“Lloyd hates everyone. Doesn’t mean she can’t help.”

“You’re probably onto something,” Kai agreed finally. “When’s Misako supposed to get here?”

Nya pointed into the woods. “There she is.”

The team hadn’t seen Misako since Chen’s island. She hadn’t changed a bit, except for the shade of worry in her eyes. Kai looked away from them- her eyes were exactly the same as Lloyd’s. 

“Nya told me everything,” Misako said, setting down a stack of papers. “Morro has possessed my son. I think I know what he’s looking for.”

She rolled out a sheet of paper and gestured for them to gather around her. “Morro was obsessed with becoming the green ninja. He convinced himself if he could find the tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, he would prove he was worthy.”

“Great. How do we find it.”

“I don’t know,” Misako admitted. “The First Spinjitzu Master was Garmadon and Wu’s father, and he said he’d leave them a message to where the tomb was, but they never received it.”

“The staff. Morro wanted Wu’s staff.” Cole looked at Jay. “Ten bucks says there’s a secret message on the staff.”

Jay laughed. “I’m not taking that bet, because you’re right. It’s got to be it.”

“Do I need to remind you Morro has the staff and we do not?” Zane pointed out. “We’re still taking shots in the dark.”

“Oh.”

\---

“Brother,” Wu sighed. “Is this necessary?”

Garmadon looked at him. “You know I would do anything for my son.”

“You’re going to scare my students.”

“Please, they know I won’t hurt you. Now, come on, I need help deciphering this symbol. Your staff left it half imprinted in the mud.”

Wu leaned over to help his brother.

\---

In his head, Lloyd screamed. He banged against the walls of wind Morro had put up around him, metaphorically. He was trapped in his head, trapped in a metaphor. 

He watched Morro use Wu’s staff to reveal a hidden message. Lloyd didn’t understand any of the symbols, but Morro obviously did. 

With a start, one of Morro’s memories crossed Lloyd’s attention span. It was a memory of Wu and the staff, and Wu smiling as he trained Morro. 

Getting possessed by your cousin was so  _ weird _ , Lloyd decided. He wondered how pissed Morro would be if he started singing “Before He Cheats” as loud as he could. 

“Don’t try it,” Morro growled out loud. 

Lloyd started humming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands and i hate the hagemans


End file.
